![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jlpp.org\/old_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Blog-post-photo-Study-group.jpg\" "\\"Blog")
<\/a>\n\nLinn State Technical College, a public two-year vocational school in Missouri, recently welcomed its new students with a <\/a>\n\nLinn State Technical College, a public two-year vocational school in Missouri, recently welcomed its new students with a mandatory drug testing policy<\/a>. Freshman showed up fresh-faced and wide-eyed only to have to pay out of pocket to submit to a drug test:\nThe tests screen for 11 drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and oxycodone. Students who test positive can stay in school while on probation but must test clean 45 days later to remain enrolled while also completing an online drug-prevention course or assigned to other, unspecified \u201cappropriate activities,\u201d according to the school\u2019s written policy.\n\nStudents who initially test positive but then test negative a subsequent time will remain on probation for the rest of that semester and also face an unannounced follow-up test. The tests cost $50, a fee paid by students.<\/blockquote>\nSchool administrators defend the drug testing policy as an effort to prepare students for employment after graduation. Interestingly, in developing the drug testing policy, school administrators solicited the opinions of hundreds of local employers, who \u201coverwhelmingly supported a requirement those same students will encounter in the job market.\u201d Furthermore, school leaders say that the tests are \u201cnecessary to ensure student safety at a campus where the coursework includes aircraft maintenance, heavy engine repair, nuclear technology and other dangerous tasks.\u201d\n\nThe ACLU responded a few days later by filing a class action suit on behalf of six Linn State students, claiming a violation of the constitutional right against unreasonable searches and seizures. None of the six plaintiffs operate heavy machinery as part of their training, and none have a record of criminal behavior indicating drug use. In their complaint<\/a>, the ACLU argues that the drug testing policy violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, and that no \u201cspecial need\u201d exists that would sufficiently outweigh the students\u2019 privacy expectations against a state institution.\n\nFederal and state courts have upheld limited cases<\/a> of drug testing of public high school students, college students who play sports, NCAA athletes, and students at private colleges. The NCAA website states<\/a> \u201ca primary purpose of drug testing is to discourage competitors from gaining an artificially derived advantage over an opponent.\u201d For a nationwide association such as the NCAA, the consumption of performance-enhancing drugs among student athletes would affect the association\u2019s purpose in promoting an environment of fair athletic competition.\n\nHowever, Linn State\u2019s objective to \u201cprepare students for future employment\u201d does not legally justify requiring every student to submit a urine sample. The potential future benefit to the student does not take away the student\u2019s right to abstain from a drug test upon matriculation. Linn State may have a valid interest in ensuring that students who operate heavy machinery or conduct other potentially dangerous tasks on campus do not consume illegal drugs. Thus, Linn State\u2019s interest exists only to the extent that it ensures students do not consume drugs while conducting such tasks. Blanket drug testing goes above and beyond by providing information about each student\u2019s drug consumption, which is probably more likely to occur after school hours.\n\nWhat if Linn State, like the NCAA, had an interest in outing cheaters? Several studies<\/a> document a rising number of students using controlled substances such as Adderrall as study aids without a valid medical reason. Could a public college argue that such dishonest study practices not only result in an unfair advantage to some students, but also undermine the legitimacy and credibility of an academic institution?\n\nFor now, a federal district court judge has halted the policy<\/a>. Officials at Linn State must cease collecting urine samples and analyzing previously collected specimens.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When one Missouri college decided to institute a mandatory drug testing policy, students responded with a class-action lawsuit. Puja Patel discusses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[89,92,371,517,964,985,1041,1077,1231],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-blogs","tag-aclu","tag-adderrall","tag-constitutional-rights","tag-drug-testing","tag-linn-state-technical-college","tag-mandatory-drug-testing","tag-missouri","tag-ncaa","tag-privacy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publications.lawschool.cornell.edu\/jlpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}